'Idol' odds 'n ends: Princess P debuts three new songs

The following are Idol-related odds and ends that happened this week:

>Paris Bennett uploaded new material onto her official music MySpace the other day in the form of three new tracks including "The One," "Wide Open" and her cover of "Rapture of Love." Paris, who finished fifth on the fifth season of Idol in 2006 and gave birth to her first child last year, was originally supposed to record a jazz album for a spring 2009 release, but these songs are more in the modern R&B vein.

>Jordin Sparks headlined VH1's "Save the Music" concert with John Mayer aboard Carnival's Splendor cruise ship on Thursday. ET was there to cover the event, and interviewed Jordin and many other attendees on the red carpet, which can be seen below:

Jordin and John performed a few of their own songs together, including "Tattoo."

>Currently in the midst of promoting his latest album The Distance, Taylor Hicks took to the stage on Live with Regis & Kelly this morning to perform his single "What's Right Is Right." Watch the performance below:



Taylor chatted with the two co-hosts following his performance in which he discussed his date with "Treat" as part of the show's "Win a Date with Taylor Hicks" promotion a few weeks back, during which Taylor was visibly uncomfortable.

>While out in Hawaii filming her latest film, You May Not Kiss the Bride, Katharine McPhee has been keeping busy by making a few appearances at local events, including the grand opening of Honolulu's Miu Miu retail location. Per The Honolulu Star Bulletin:

Prada Corp. celebrated the grand opening of its Miu Miu store last night with a well-attended party of some of Honolulu’s most stylish, as well as a handful of celebs, including “Lost’s” Michael Emerson, dressed in crisp white linen, homegrown actress/singer Tia Carrere and “American Idol” season five finalist Katharine McPhee, who’s also working on her acting skills.

Katharine had a busy week, as she celebrated her 25th birthday on Wednesday.

>The ratings for Thursday's results show were not much off what they normally are, as the episode yanked in 20.6 million viewers in the first half-hour and 24.1 million viewers in the second half-hour, averaging 22.4 million for the entire episode. These numbers were enough to crush the rest of the competition, and Wednesday's special performance episode averaged 25.6 million viewers over two hours, which is a bit above average for the season.

Maybe President Obama should interrupt the prime time schedule more often after all?